


The train cars won't stop rolling

by Chippani



Category: End Roll (Video Game), Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Blood, Gen, Infinity Train AU, Other citizens are minor characters, don't mind me, i guess?, just writting up this idea my friend had
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26492380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chippani/pseuds/Chippani
Summary: "...Your guilt level is 0... Still so far from regret... Your guilt level is 0..."Russell was heading to the police station to turn himself in when the train pulled up in front of him. This was strange considering he wasn't near the railroad, but he felt compelled to climb aboard. If only he knew what he was getting into.Surely one more deranged maniac wouldn't hurt, right?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	The train cars won't stop rolling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CrayolaColor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrayolaColor/gifts).



> I always do this to myself.  
> If you've played end roll before, you should know just about where this will go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the first thing I've written all year and it's probably gonna be terrible.

_He was shivering so much. The crunch of his shoes on the pavement was almost loud enough to drown out the ringing in his ears. The echoes of his fathers howl, his mother's scream. Surely someone had called the police by now._

_He clutched his diary so tightly it nearly slipped from his blood-stained hands. They had to believe him when they saw what he wrote. They had to understand why he did it._

_His feet came to a stop and he looked up at the train car before him. It hadn't been there a moment ago, this being the middle of town. Yet something compelled him to open the door and step inside. It wasn't like he'd stopped himself any other time..._

* * *

Birds were chirpping. The boy sat up slowly. He didn't remember there being birds out. Not at night anyway.

"Welcome aboard, new passenger!" A robotic voice cheerfully declared, making the boy jump. He stared at the strange screen in front of him as the little robots started explaining what was going on. It was weird. He stopped listening for a moment and looked around.

There were strange looking sheep grazing nearby, and plants with faces sticking out of the ground. This couldn't be real... Could it? He had to be dreaming.

"How about that number on your hand, huh? Pretty cool and green." _Number?_ He looked at his hands. Sure enough, there was a green number on his hand. Or, rather, on his arm. The number snaked off his hand and under his sleeve. "The numbers are made by the train based on your life-"

What a cruel joke. They mentioned how to get home, but he couldn't care less. He didn't want to go home. There was nothing left for him there.

Getting to his feet, he didn't even listen to the rest of the video. He just grabbed his diary and started wandering around.

"Hellooo there!" A girl shouted from a distance. Her yellow dress and white hair bouncing around her as she ran towards him. She was so...familiar...

"Hi! I'm Gardenia! I don't believe we've met before. You look about the same age as me. I've never had a friend the same age as me!" She was very excited. It made Russell very uncomfortable. "You'll be my friend, right?"

Gardenia's smile was so genuine. It was hard to say no, so he nodded once. She cheered before gesturing for him to follow. "We're all meeting in the church. You should come."

She started skipping ahead and he followed slowly, taking note of her blank hands. Why didn't she have a number? Did that weird robot explain it?

"Gardenia, where did- huh?" There was a man in a green coat. He looked familiar too... Russell didn't like that. "Well, hey there. You must be new here. I'm Tabasa."

"Can you believe it? He's my age!" Gardenia bounced on the balls of her feet. _So annoying._

"What's his name?" She froze mid-bounce. Tabasa only seemed a bit miffed. "You forgot to ask, didn't you?"

"W- well I was just- I knew we had to get to the meeting, and you know how Dogma-"

His voice was so weak, he hadn't used it in a while. Not since Chris moved. "Russell."

Tabasa smiled and leaned closer, cupping a hand around where his ear probably was. "Huh? What was that? I couldn't hear you." Russell said nothing. "Just kidding."

The man leaned back and gestured inside. "Come on then. Everyone's waiting."

Russell hesitated. Why were these strange people being so nice to him? Didn't they hate him like everyone else? And why didn't they have numbers?

"It's okay. We don't bite." Tabasa smiled softly. There really wasn't much else for Russell to do. So he stepped inside.

Everyone was looking at him. "Guys! I made a friend! His name is Russell and-"

"Dangit, Gardenia." A blonde woman started. "You know I gotta meet newbies first to make sure they ain't trouble."

"I'm sure he's fine, Yumi." The old man at the front said. "We'll all introduce ourselves to the newcomer momentarily. First we have to address the monsters in the forrest."

"They aren't that big a deal. They just spook the sheep."

"Tis only through my intervention they avoid the town." Russell glanced over at the man that spoke. He appeared entirely disinterested, wings on his back twitching as his red eyes met Russell's. He was definitely not human, especially with those horns on the sides of his head. "The charms do wonders to keep out troublemakers."

His eyes made the boy uncomfortable.

"Yeah right," Yumi rolled her eyes, bringing her feet up to rest on the back of the pew in front of her. "I do more to keep the town safe than you do."

The priest, who had yet to say anything, shoved her feet off the pew. "It doesn't matter who does more, they're still very active and preventing me from doing my duties."

"Yeah, and I can't get any supplies from the market."

Boring. Russell sat down and looked at the diary in his hands. These people were all weirdly familiar. He didn't like it.

The diary stared back, the worn cover telling him he was okay. He couldn't believe he still had it. He'd bought it years ago, with what little money he found laying about. It wasn't expensive either, just a few dollars. Almost all of the pages were full now. He'd probably have to get a new one...

There was a light touch on his shoulder. The man with the horns was giving him an aloof smile. "Wouldst you like to work with me? T'would only be the simple tasks, such as organizing."

Who was this guy again? Russell shrugged. "Ah, so you chose not to listen. We were trying to find a place for you to stay. I simply believed you would wish to stay with a kindered spirit."

Russell's brow furrowed. What did this man mean? He couldn't see how they could be 'kindered spirits' but... This man had a comforting presence. Very few people had ever felt like that to him.

He nodded.

* * *

"Russell, tis time to wake." Kantera said as he gently shook Russell. The boy still wasn't used to how gentle the old man was. Especially since he'd seen what the man could do. Maybe that was why he was so gentle.

"Perhaps today you'll like to speak as we eat?" Kantera spoke again as he poured tea. Russle quietly sat up, rubbing his eyes before moving to the table. Kantera waited for a beat before saying, "perhaps not."

Russell never spoke. It was kind of just how he was now. Even if he had a bad dream. It wasn't like anyone would care... Right?

They ate and headed out to the forest, like they did every morning. Russell never _really_ helped out. Mostly he just stood there and watched Kantera. But today felt off. He stood near Kantera, bat gripped tightly by his side.

Then a door on the side of a tree opened and a kid poked their head in. (How Russell had missed that door so many times, he wasn't sure.) The kid had a red, squiggly line across the bridge of their nose. "Hoho? And who might you be?" Kantera asked, hand slipping into his sleeve.

Their head darted back through the door.

"Get behind me." Kantera said, stepping in front of him and pulling a few charms from his sleeves. "Scouts mean trouble."

Sure enough, kids and teenagers started spilling through the door. All of them had that squiggly line and a weird backpack on. Kantera threw a flame charm at them.

"The town! We must warn them!"

 _What good would that do?_ Russell shook his head. He brandished his bat at the kids. He'd beat them all down. _How dare they interrupt my peace. How dare they grin like that. Stupid kids. Die. Stop looking at me like that. Die. Die._

"Russell!" Kantera tried again. He shook his head. They didn't deserve this. _He'd kill them. He'd kill them all._

The first kid stepped up and he swung at her. A teenager. Taller than himself. She smiled so confidently... He hated her.

Her smile dropped as the others started running rampant through the forrest, none dared go anywhere near Kantera. "You're a passenger."

"He's a what?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably gonna be a short one. Maybe 4 or 5 chapters?  
> Really I'm writing all of this on impulse because _someone_ got me thinking a lot about this.
> 
> I'm actually more into the owl house and hollow knight these days, but I don't really know how to write for those two.


End file.
